Alexander Harcus MONCRIEFF

MONCRIEFF, Alexander Harcus

Service Numbers: SX1477, 304527
Enlisted: Not yet discovered
Last Rank: Captain
Last Unit: 2nd/1st Machine Gun Battalion
Born: Adelaide, South Australia, 3 October 1912
Home Town: Kensington Gardens, Burnside, South Australia
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Engineering Assistant, S.A.R.
Died: Adelaide, South Australia, 19 February 1987, aged 74 years, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery: Centennial Park Cemetery, South Australia
Cremation Date 23/02/1987
Memorials: Adelaide South Australian Railways WW1 & WW2 Honour Boards, Kilburn Islington Railway Workshops Honour Roll
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World War 2 Service

3 Sep 1939: Involvement Captain, SX1477
3 Sep 1939: Involvement Captain, 304527
9 Jul 1942: Discharged
9 Jul 1942: Discharged SX1477, 2nd/1st Machine Gun Battalion
Date unknown: Enlisted SX1477, 2nd/1st Machine Gun Battalion

Canadian Beer

In the evening of 15 February 1942, Capt. AH Moncrieff, commanding a composite company of five officers and 105 ORs, left their camp at L5 lines, AIF camp at Hill 95, Palestine, for Suez to guard 6th and 7th Division store dumps. They commenced their duty at Suez on 17 February 1942, after having travelled by truck, train and ferry across the Suez Canal at El Kantara.
One of their duties in Suez was guarding a huge quantity of Canadian-brewed beer. This was a prized duty, as the guards could easily ‘mine’ into the stack of crates, remove one, drink the contents and then replace the empties in a location where no stocktake would find them for weeks or months. It is not known if Capt. Moncrieff was aware of this practice by his men.
Source: 'A Quiet Man', Only Slightly Foxed Publications, 2024 - a history of 2/1st Machine Gun Battalion Private William Paul White, one of the men in Moncrieff's party.

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